[SustainableTompkins] Fwd: Green Power Plant in CNY

[Cnielsen56 at aol.com]

How about now?
 
In a message dated 8/18/2006 12:20:29 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
joel.and.sarah.gagnon at lightlink.com writes:

The  title is intriguing, but there is nothing in the message field for this  
post.

Joel


Company wants to build “green’ power plant in  CNY
Syracuse, ESF, Siemens would be  partners. It could cut city's power bill.  
Sunday, August 06, 2006   
By Greg Munno and Nancy Buczek   
Staff writers  
The Siemens Corp. plans to build a  "green" power plant in the city of 
Syracuse and sell the power to the city and  school district at rates lower than 
they are paying now, according to the city  and company.  
If all goes according to schedule,  the plant could be built and producing 
power within 18 months.   
The city estimates it will save $1.2  million per year on its electricity 
bill. It also anticipates being able to  capture federal and state money meant to 
reward green energy use and sell the  storm debris the city collects to the 
plant. It even says that the plant could  sell some surplus electricity for a 
total estimated benefit of $150 million over  the next 20 years.  
The State University College of  Environmental Science and Forestry is also a 
partner in the project. The school  will help Siemens acquire fuel for the 
plant, which will extract energy from  willow trees through a process called 
gasification.  
ESF will also buy some of the power  from the plant, build a research lab and 
classrooms at the facility, and create  a new bachelor's de- 9  
gree program in renewable energy  systems, which could start as soon as fall 
2007, according to ESF President  Cornelius "Neil" Murphy Jr.  
Several sites are being considered  for the plant, with the most likely being 
a 4-acre undeveloped plot between Erie  Boulevard and Interstate 690 slightly 
west of Thompson Road, according to Jim  Olcott, a Siemens account manager 
working on the project.  
The plan calls for Siemens to  shoulder the cost of obtaining land for the 
plant, building the facility, buying  fuel and running the operation, according 
to the city and Siemens. "There would  be no up-front cost to the city at 
all," Mayor Matt Driscoll said.   
The city would sign a 20-year  contract with Siemens, agreeing to buy a 
certain amount of power from the plant  at a fixed price.  
That price hasnot yet been  determined. The price must be set high enough 
that it makes sense for Siemens to  build the plant, and low enough that it will 
guarantee the city a cost savings  over what it currently pays for power. 
Whether or not a price acceptable to both  parties can be found will determine 
whether the project will become a reality,  Olcott and Driscoll said. But both 
are confident they can strike a deal.   
"We are doing our due diligence now  and studying exactly how much power the 
city will need and what size plant we  will build, but our initial estimates 
are that we can save the city about 30  percent over what they are paying now," 
Olcott said. "We should definitely be  competitive on price, on top of being 
environmentally friendly.   
"And," he added, "with ESF's  involvement and the fact that we would be 
purchasing willow from area farms,  there's tremendous potential for spin-offs."  
There are some risks for the city,  but they seem remote, said Paul Thompson, 
the city's energy coordinator. If the  city agrees with Siemens on a price 
for power and then energy prices  unexpectedly fall, the city would be locked 
into the higher price. "But everyone  expects energy to continue to go up, and 
one of the things I really like about  this plan is it allows us to know our 
future energy costs with a high degree of  certainty," Thompson said.  
Any final agreement with Siemens  would have to be approved by the Syracuse 
Common Council. The council's Public  Works Committee will hear a pitch on the 
proposal at its meeting at noon  Wednesday.  
In the short term, the council will  be asked to approve a resolution asking 
Siemens to move forward with plans for  the plant. The resolution itself would 
expose the city to some risk. It would  obligate the city to repay Siemens 
for the cost of continuing to develop the  proposal if Siemens meets a series of 
benchmarks but, for whatever reason, the  city decides not to sign on to the 
final deal. That cost would be capped at  $345,000, said Public Works 
Committee Chairman Bill Simmons.   
"I think that is a reasonable  request, since we are asking them to do the 
work," Simmons said. "I am very much  in favor of this proposal. We have to find 
a way to save on energy costs and  have more control over our energy supply." 
 
The proposedplant's design is  considered environmentally friendly mainly 
because it would use willows for  fuel. Willows grow quickly they can be 
harvested within three years of planting  and therefore are a renewable, sustainable, 
source of energy.   
The willows also take the same  amount of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas 
that contributes to global warming,  out of the air when they grow as they put 
into the air when they are used for  energy. That makes the plant "carbon 
neutral," according to ESF's Murphy.   
Another green technology in the  plant is the gasifier, which extracts gas 
from the wood. The gas is then burned  to fire turbines or an engine to produce 
electricity. Gasifying the wood instead  of burning it is both cleaner and 
more efficient, said Tim Volk, a research  associate at ESF.  
The plant's exactsize has yet to be  determined, but the current proposal is 
for a 10 megawatt facility, which would  take care of the majority of the city 
and school district's electrical needs. If  a 10 megawatt plant is built, ESF 
estimates, the carbon reduction would be  equivalent to removing nearly 
40,000 cars from the road.  
The project is unlike any Siemens  has done before, but Olcott says there is 
solid precedent for it. In 2001,  Siemens built a traditional gas-fired plant 
for Monroe County under an agreement  similar to the one Siemens seeks with 
Syracuse. Siemens has also built a  gasification plant in Georgia that extracts 
gas from carpet scraps.   
"The business model and technology  we are proposing for Syracuse are all 
proven, but have never been brought  together in this particular combination," 
Olcott said.  
Using wood for fuel does create  pollution, no matter how efficiently it is 
done. The Onondaga County Resource  Recovery Agency was banned by the state 
from burning wood mulch and yard waste  when its trash incinerator opened in 
1994. The incinerator also produces energy,  with a capacity of 39 megawatts.  
Ken Lynch, regional director for the  state Department of Environmental 
Conservation, said the new power plant's  developers will have to obtain one or 
more state environmental permits before  the project can move forward. Lynch said 
the state has no outright ban on the  burning of wood in power plants. But he 
said the state is concerned about the  potential nitrogen emissions, which 
lead to acid rain.  
Olcott said Siemens will work  closely with regulatory agencies like the DEC 
to ensure the plant meets  environmental standards.  
The effort tobuild the plant is the  latest in a series of green initiatives 
by Driscoll. The mayor hired Thompson in  2002 to lower the city's energy use 
and costs, and since then the city has  replaced its street and traffic 
lighting systems, updated fixtures in the  parking garages and in city hall, and 
become smarter about reducing its energy  use at times of the day when power is 
particularly expensive.   
Thompson estimates those efforts and  others have saved about $1.2 million 
since 2002, and cut carbon emissions by  about 11,000 tons a year. Last year, 
the city won two prestigious environmental  awards, the Sol Feinstone Award and 
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's  Climate Protection Award. In fact, 
the city has been so successful in reducing  energy usage that Siemens is 
worried a 10 megawatt plant may be too big, Olcott  said.  
"We are starting to gain a national  reputation as a progressive city on 
environmental issues," Driscoll said. "It's  something we can capitalize on in 
many ways."  
Staff writer Mark Weiner and  librarian Bonnie Ross contributed to this 
report. Staff writer Greg Munno can be  reached at 470-6084 or gmunno at syracuse.com. 
©  2006 The Post-Standard. Used with permission.